No superstars, no ambition, no hope of change! Usmanov takes aim at Arsenal owner Kroenke

Arsenal's civil war shows no sign of calming after Alisher Usmanov took another swipe at rival Stan Kroenke today.

The Russian, who has an estimated fortune of £13.3billion, is desperate to increase his stake in the club, which currently stands at around 30 per cent.

Usmanov's route to the powerbase at Emirates Stadium is blocked, however, by American businessman Kroneke, who he has accused of lacking the necessary ambition to keep fans happy.

Civil war: Alisher Usmanov has taken another swipe at his rival Stan Kroenke over the direction of Arsenal

With the club still fighting for their place in next season's Champions League, Usmanov has revealed he will assess his position by the end of the campaign, though is adamant he won't walk away.

Speaking in his homeland, the 59-year-old criticised the lack of the 'superstars' left in Arsene Wenger's team and suggested Kroenke 'doesn't show any wish to create a winning team' and 'would probably be happy' with another fourth-placed finish.

He added: 'In our understanding, Kroenke has no plans to sell his stake, but we also won’t sell out, as we are the team’s fans.'

Kroenke pushed through his £430million-plus takeover in April 2011, and now holds 66.83 per cent of the club to give him overall control.

The latest attack comes after Usmanov claimed in January manager Arsene Wenger of 'building a team' for his rivals.

Robin
van Persie, Samir Nasri and Ashley Cole are among just some of the
high-profile stars to have joined Arsenal's Barclays Premier League
challengers during Wenger's tenure.

Van
Persie quit the Emirates last summer to join Manchester United in a
£24m deal.

Previously Nasri joined Manchester City, as did Gael Clichy, and Cole opted to swap Arsenal for Chelsea in 2006.

Struggles: Arsenal have endured another topsy-turvy season and are still not guaranteed a top-four place

Speaking in January this year, Usmanov said: 'I like many footballers, and I'm in contact with some of them. Perhaps my favourite of the last 10, 15 years is Thierry Henry.

'The greatest achievement of Arsene Wenger is to have created two teams: the one that now plays for our rivals and the one that is trying to be among the best in the Premier League.

'That's why I say it's not enough to merely flatter the coach but to give him the possibility to buy the best players, superstars. But not just stars but those chosen by Wenger.

'It's unthinkable that the shareholders get well-paid while, for small clauses in contracts, we lose key players, symbols like Robin van Persie, Mathieu Flamini or Patrick Vieira. We should have increased their salaries when they started to be courted, started to look elsewhere. I don't know why we didn't propose that to them.'